Thee Official 2024-25 Detroit Red Wings Thread: McLellan gave the league one loss as a courtesy

[Grand Moff Larkin]

Sharks are buzzing, Wings are standing around

[Grand Moff Larkin]

Edvinsson goes awkwardly into the boards after Dellandrea goes awkwardly at him

Fuuuuuuuck

[Grand Moff Larkin]

I don’t remember when the last Wings shot on goal was

A minute into this period?

[Grand Moff Larkin]

Larkin gets one, it’s stopped

Edvinsson’s back out there but his shoulder might be hurt

[Grand Moff Larkin]

Veleno takes a holding penalty with six left , Wings manage to kill it off and now they get their own

[Grand Moff Larkin]

I was about to complain about DeBrincat fucking up a bunch of stuff on the PP, but then he gets his own blocked pass and puts it home

[Grand Moff Larkin]

The pass attempt was so dumb, Ferraro was flat on the ice blocking the lane, and yet it pays off

[Grand Moff Larkin]

Going to overtime, just what I want

[Grand Moff Larkin]

Celebrini wins it with a solo effort

[practice]

Calamitous season so far

[linseman]

how are we feeling about the yzerplan?

[Grand Moff Larkin]

I'm not as down on the Wings or Yzerman or even Lalonde as the general commentariat. Even with how they've played, they're not out of it by any means -- they're one point back of Ottawa and Buffalo, three points behind the current 8 seed (the Islanders, who they play on Thursday). Is it good to lost all three games on a West Coast road trip, especially when you lead two of those games midway through against teams you should beat? No, it isn't. But I can only read so much "THE DISASTER OF THE WINGS" stuff. The world's bad enough as is, you know. I don't get anything from catastrophizing the hockey team I follow.

But in terms of the Yzerplan, I'm of two minds. The first is that so many pieces haven't made it to the Wings yet. Goaltending hasn't been the problem this year, but Cossa / Augustine looks like they could win games. Cossa's been awesome in the AHL the last two years and I don't think the Prospect Knowers fully appreciate that because they're stuck on his early post-draft struggles. Kasper's on the team now but Danielson, Brandsegg-Nygard, and Mazur are getting close. Lombardi, Finnie, Buchelnikov -- they have more options coming up front. It seems like Sandin-Pellikka could be a gamebreaker on the blueline and Buium, Wallinder, etc. could be third-pair guys with big frames and skating ability. I don't think the Yzerman is done yet because so many of the players on the current roster are placeholders until the next wave arrives.

THAT SAID, my biggest concern is Yzerman's taste in defenders. Not the first-round guys -- Seider and Edvinsson are awesome, look like the right picks, ASP went against type but he looks like he could be great -- but the NHL guys (especially this year) and some of the prospects. I've talked a lot about how NHL bluelines have shifted due to only one defender being on most PP units, which means that more of the guys end up being suited to PK duty, where you need at least four. But between Ben Chiarot, Jeff Petry, Justin Holl, and Erik Gustafsson -- 2/3 of the current blueline -- it's hard not to wonder "What do you see in these guys?," especially when they let Gostisbehere go, dumped Walman, and traded Maatta. You need guys to kill penalties, sure, but Chiarot needs to be a third-pairing guy, not a 3D. Petry was a cheap acquisition, but they didn't need both him and Justin Holl in the same offseason, and dumped Maatta (the best of the three) because they couldn't move Holl. Gustafsson seemed like he would be able to run a PP, but he hasn't even been good at that. Gostisbehere had plenty of flaws, but at least he accumulated points. I don't know what was going on with Walman behind the scenes but even if his on-ice performance isn't as good as the hype two season ago, I'd still take him over Gustafsson. As for the defensive prospects, they've reached for guys like Brady Cleveland a few times -- big bodies with a mean streak -- and the profile of "big, toolsy, good skating defensemen" like Buium / Wallinder has not yet delivered any players to the NHL, so the jury's out.

I'm less concerned by the forwards. If you can get Patrick Kane for nothing and keep him on a cheap, one-year deal, yeah, you do that. He hasn't gotten it going this year at even-strength, but he's still worth 4 million. Compher and Copp are insulation for Larkin and stopgaps until the prospects arrive. Compher's been super frustrating this year, Tarasenko can't score, etc. Maybe a coaching change would fix that, but it's not like Lalonde hasn't tried Compher and Kane and Tarasenko with almost every forward combination available.

So in short, not going great, but not the end of the world.

[Grand Moff Larkin]

It would be pretty funny if they finally won the draft lottery this year.

[linseman]

I'm not as down on the Wings or Yzerman or even Lalonde as the general commentariat. Even with how they've played, they're not out of it by any means -- they're one point back of Ottawa and Buffalo, three points behind the current 8 seed (the Islanders, who they play on Thursday). Is it good to lost all three games on a West Coast road trip, especially when you lead two of those games midway through against teams you should beat? No, it isn't. But I can only read so much "THE DISASTER OF THE WINGS" stuff. The world's bad enough as is, you know. I don't get anything from catastrophizing the hockey team I follow.

But in terms of the Yzerplan, I'm of two minds. The first is that so many pieces haven't made it to the Wings yet. Goaltending hasn't been the problem this year, but Cossa / Augustine looks like they could win games. Cossa's been awesome in the AHL the last two years and I don't think the Prospect Knowers fully appreciate that because they're stuck on his early post-draft struggles. Kasper's on the team now but Danielson, Brandsegg-Nygard, and Mazur are getting close. Lombardi, Finnie, Buchelnikov -- they have more options coming up front. It seems like Sandin-Pellikka could be a gamebreaker on the blueline and Buium, Wallinder, etc. could be third-pair guys with big frames and skating ability. I don't think the Yzerman is done yet because so many of the players on the current roster are placeholders until the next wave arrives.

THAT SAID, my biggest concern is Yzerman's taste in defenders. Not the first-round guys -- Seider and Edvinsson are awesome, look like the right picks, ASP went against type but he looks like he could be great -- but the NHL guys (especially this year) and some of the prospects. I've talked a lot about how NHL bluelines have shifted due to only one defender being on most PP units, which means that more of the guys end up being suited to PK duty, where you need at least four. But between Ben Chiarot, Jeff Petry, Justin Holl, and Erik Gustafsson -- 2/3 of the current blueline -- it's hard not to wonder "What do you see in these guys?," especially when they let Gostisbehere go, dumped Walman, and traded Maatta. You need guys to kill penalties, sure, but Chiarot needs to be a third-pairing guy, not a 3D. Petry was a cheap acquisition, but they didn't need both him and Justin Holl in the same offseason, and dumped Maatta (the best of the three) because they couldn't move Holl. Gustafsson seemed like he would be able to run a PP, but he hasn't even been good at that. Gostisbehere had plenty of flaws, but at least he accumulated points. I don't know what was going on with Walman behind the scenes but even if his on-ice performance isn't as good as the hype two season ago, I'd still take him over Gustafsson. As for the defensive prospects, they've reached for guys like Brady Cleveland a few times -- big bodies with a mean streak -- and the profile of "big, toolsy, good skating defensemen" like Buium / Wallinder has not yet delivered any players to the NHL, so the jury's out.

I'm less concerned by the forwards. If you can get Patrick Kane for nothing and keep him on a cheap, one-year deal, yeah, you do that. He hasn't gotten it going this year at even-strength, but he's still worth 4 million. Compher and Copp are insulation for Larkin and stopgaps until the prospects arrive. Compher's been super frustrating this year, Tarasenko can't score, etc. Maybe a coaching change would fix that, but it's not like Lalonde hasn't tried Compher and Kane and Tarasenko with almost every forward combination available.

So in short, not going great, but not the end of the world.

i mostly agree with this but probably am slightly more pessimistic overall

the fact that the pieces haven't arrived yet is arguably part of the problem, whether that be lack of development / waiting too long or picking the wrong ones in the first place (or some combination thereof)

the dumping of walman in particular really shook my confidence - is there even any indication that there was anything "behind the scenes", other than just what other reason could there even be?

[Grand Moff Larkin]

In terms of the pieces not arriving, it’s rare for picks out of the top three to make it right away. Like Danielson should be a key guy, was picked in 2023. From what I can tell from the guys picked after him, only Zack Benson and Samuel Honzek have suited up for more than one NHL game. Benson has 34 points in 84 games and Honzek has 0 in 5. Those are guys I debated for their picks, too. Danielson had a slow start in the AHL but has been coming on lately. I’d still rather have him than either of those guys.

Kasper needed the AHL season last year, that kneecap injury slowed him down. I think they’ve made the right moves with Cossa, even with the ECHL time. Edvinsson could’ve been up earlier, but that goes back to getting both Holl and Petry. Maybe Mazur is ready. Past that, ASP is killing the SHL and MBN appears to be acclimating well there. Augustine is doing great at MSU and will be the US WJ starter.

I really don’t have hindsight for any of Yzerman’s firsts, even Cossa instead of Wallstedt (or Johnston). Holland, sure. Moving down from Chychrun to dump Datsyuk’s money and take Cholowski seemed weird. I wanted Necas over Rasmussen at the draft and hey, still do. I was thrilled with Zadina but obviously Hughes, Bouchard, or Dobson would’ve been much better.

They need a non-first to pan out and maybe that’s Lombardi or Finnie.

[Grand Moff Larkin]

I do wonder if they’ll trade this year’s first. I assume it’ll be in the 12-16 range, can’t imagine they’ll get immediate help from a player chosen there. Maybe a younger d-man is on the trade market.

[Grand Moff Larkin]

I saw Blade Runner in the theater and the Wings won, which means that I'll watch the game tomorrow

[Grand Moff Larkin]

Taking Neu! 15 to Wings Broons tomorrow night, should receive a Red Wings gravy zamboni

[Grand Moff Larkin]

Watching the third period of the Isles game from Thursday

Kasper with Kane and DeBrincat looks good, he thinks like Kane more than Compher does.

[Grand Moff Larkin]

Motte is up with Larkin and Raymond in the third and looks pretty good with them. They’re buzzing and he’s doing the work.